Revelation
In the World of Pulpness, many unnatural creatures and phenomena hide in plain sight, concealing their true nature. When a mortal encounters evidence of the supernatural, they make a Revelation check, to see if the natural tendency to dismiss and deny the impossible remains in place, or if they discover what it is they seek. NOTE: THIS OVERRIDES AND UNIFIES EXISTING MECHANICS Check: Wits + appropriate skill (usually occult) or composure. Dramatic Failure: the observer goes into complete denial of the supernatural. Perhaps what she thought she saw did have a perfectly rational explanation, and now she's sure everything does. Perhaps he's desperately clinging to a sense of normalcy and won't abide anything that threatens it. They may gain the condition Reality Blind. Most mortals have this condition as a matter of course, usually due to something uncomfortable glimpsed in their childhood. Failure: the observer can't manage to confirm anything. Earlier observations are dismissed as "seeing things" but another roll could be made if something else unnatural is observed. Notably, the character should not continue to follow up on their suspicions, and loses all accumulated bonuses. Success: although the observer can't manage a coherent description of what was seen, a lingering sense of suspicion remains, and the observer is free to continue investigating. The observer gains a cumulative +1 suspicion bonus on all revelation checks until a check is failed, or until willpower is regained by resting. Exceptional Success: The observer gets a clear glimps of something unnatural, and can describe it well enough that those who can actually see it can recognize it. For promethians and changelings there is a glimpse through the Mask. For Leviathans and Royals, one may recognize the connection between the forms, identifying them by a shared gesture, feature, or the like. Others who have also sensed something off may be assisted in spotting the supernatural using the normal teamwork rules. Masks Masks protect Changelings and Promethians, and can be created by mad science devices using the Axium of Transformation. There are strong masks and weak masks. Masks, strong or weak, "slip," allowing for a Revelation Check, whenever energy (glamor, pyros, etc.) is spent, or when using certain unnatural abilities, such as electrical healing. Anyone who can penetrate weak masks can see both the mask and the true reality underneath in a sort of double vision. Yes, this means that changelings and promethians can easily spot each other trivially. Strong masks do not allow others to see through them, even changelings or promethians, and their existance must usually be discovered indirectly, and requires Revelation Checks. *Changelings may strengthen for one scene, drop, or reenstate their mask by spending a single point of glamous, so long as they have at least one additional point of glamour in their pool. Dropping the mask "ignites" the changeling's remaining glamour pool, emptying it completely -- and thus making reinstating the mask a little tricky. *Promethians drop their mask when conducting electricity, and can strengthen their mask for a scene using the Corporum 3 Transmutiation Human Flesh, which also prevents the mask from slipping. *Construct Promethians may take Obdurant Mask as a Bestowment, which strengthens their mask against all but those specifically and mystically bound to them. Many echos have masks when visiting the Real World. Princesses and Leviathans change form, rather than being masked in some way, but are treated as having Strong Masks. Condition: Reality Blind You do not recognize the strange and supernatural, even when it's right in front of you. Gain a beat whenever you blithely ignore clear signs of the supernatural to your detriment or the amusement of the table. If you are supernatural, you are not blind to your own powers, or the powers of those like you -- just to the powers and effects of other, less familiar supernaturals. Obvious mortal danger is noted, but its source cannot be consciously observed or described, resulting in an undirected panic and flight if it is not ignored entirely. To end this condition, the subject must spend a point of willpower when observing a reoccurent blatant supernatural effect, or a clear and obvious mortal danger. Rule Change: Why? Several reasons. First, there are a number of disconnected "do the mortals figure it out" mechanics. This brings them under one umbrella. Second, Reality Blindness is a trope from Narbonic: this is only one example. Third, I wanted to give more of an excuse for Changelings and Promethians to actually talk to each other. Both are, on a fundamental level, trying to get away from the weirdness in their lives and enmesh in what it means to be human. Both have long roads ahead of them. And both live in a world that is often glimpsed -- with wondor or horror -- but seldom truely seen. Fourth, this allows for important mortals to become Suspicious, gaining bonuses (and keeping them, if they're sufficiently driven or nightmare-plagued) to finding out until the poor strung-out mortal breaks through and discovers something odd and terrible and wonderful. Those who fall on the wayside, you don't need to worry about any more, but some NPCs, mostlly malajusted ones, get enough of a bonus to be a concern, while still having a window in which the PCs can attempt to cover things up. This is a useful story element, and can be the crux of an entire adventure. Also, it makes Changeling contract Catches a little cooler: spending glamour makes the mask slip, but if you use a catch, your mask doesn't slip. --zebediah Category:General Mechanics Category:Rule Change Category:Conditions